Commenting on the state of British education from the teaching perspective

The Pro’s & Con’s of a Snow Day

Oh the joy of the snow day!

Snow Day. Two words that will bring glee to many a teacher and every student across the land. They are those golden days, where a teacher wakes up early, looks out the window at the white stuff covering the ground. Before anything else, they reach for their laptop & opens the following pages on the Internet:

Their school website
Facebook
The local radio station website

And so it begins. The kettle is on, mobile phoned charged with texts & tweets flying between teachers in all different areas.

The mouse clicks on refresh, every 30 seconds. Then, fear creeps in. What if they don’t call a snow day? I’ll have to go in! The kids will be on a snow-high. The paths will be slippy. It’ll be exhausting! *Hits refresh another few times, checks Facebook* Waits.

Then. The moment has come. The notice has appeared on the school’s website. School is closed due to snow and adverse weather conditions.

Result! Back to bed with a cuppa and the mass-messaging of other teachers. Day off! No teaching for me! Will probably do some marking or planning later, or just watch daytime TV. Because I can! Snow Day!

Why do schools call snow days? Here’s a great interview on the BBC explaining why. It’s not an easy decision management make, but sometimes it’s the safest. Not everyone will be happy – parents who have to take a day of unpaid leave to look after their children because of the closure won’t be. I remember a parent interviewed a few years ago on local news, who complained because her child’s school was shut due to staff not being able to get in. She thought it was wrong of teachers to live so far from school! Love that!